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☆ Alibaba Says Its Chairman, Daniel Zhang, Will Step Down in September
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a major overhaul at the top of the company, Alibaba Group, China’s leading e-commerce giant, announced on Tuesday that Daniel Zhang would relinquish his role as chairman and chief executive of the company. Mr. Zhang said he would continue to serve as chief executive of Alibaba’s cloud computing division. Joseph Tsai, an Alibaba veteran who is the company’s executive vice chairman, will succeed Mr. Zhang as chairman and as a member of Alibaba’s board of directors. The leader of Alibaba’s e-commerce division, Eddie Yongming Wu, will succeed Mr. Zhang as chief executive, the company added. He will continue to lead both of those platforms as Alibaba’s chief executive.

Persons: Daniel Zhang, Zhang, Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s, Eddie Yongming Wu, Wu, Alibaba Organizations: Alibaba, Tmall, Alibaba’s

☆ Stocks making the biggest premarket moves: Alibaba, Dice Therapeutics, Avis and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Atmus Filtration Technologies — Shares of the air filtration company rose more than 2% after a slew of analysts initiated coverage with bullish ratings, including JPMorgan. The bank said Atmus trades at a "deep discounted valuation vs. peers, despite >80% of aftermarket mix, while its planned expansion into industrial filtration should bridge the valuation gap vs. direct filtration peers over time." Avis Budget — Shares added 3.5% in light volume following an upgrade by Morgan Stanley to overweight from equal weight. Philip Morris International — Shares of the tobacco company rose 1.5% in premarket trading after Citi upgraded Philip Morris to buy from neutral. Carnival — Shares moved 1.5% higher in the premarket, building on gains made last week when it was the S&P 500's best performer.

Persons: Daniel Zhang, Eddie Wu, Alibaba's, Eli Lilly, Morgan Stanley, Adam Jonas, Jonas, Avis, Philip Morris, —, Jesse Pound Organizations: Alibaba, Holding, JPMorgan, Avis Budget, Citi, Warner Bros Discovery Locations: Beijing, China, —

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE, June 20 (Reuters) - Asia's dealmakers are counting on a pause in rate hikes globally and an economic rebound in China to rekindle activity in the region's equity capital markets, after volumes in the first half of the year sank to their lowest in four years. First-half Asia Pacific equity capital markets volumes dropped 16% to $117.2 billion from the same period in 2022, including a 34% drop in initial public offerings (IPOs) to $34.3 billion, Refinitiv data showed. "For investor sentiment to return for IPOs we need to see a more stable interest rate environment in the U.S., more economic stimulus from China and an improving geopolitical backdrop," said Cathy Zhang, head of Asia Pacific equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley. "We are hoping to see more IPO activity in the second half and starting to see some green shoots in the U.S. and Europe," said Udhay Furtado, Citigroup's co-head of Asia equity capital markets. As bankers scan their pipeline of IPO candidates for the second half, larger transactions in the region are being favoured to help kick-start activity.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Cathy Zhang, Morgan Stanley, Udhay Furtado, Citigroup's, Sunil Dhupelia, JPMorgan's, China's JD.com, Hulu Energi's, Edmund Leong, Scott Murdoch, Yantoultra, Vineet, Sonali Paul Organizations: Asia, Morgan, IPOs, STAR, Shenzhen's, Reuters, JD Industrial, JD, Alibaba, HK, Bankers, Group Investment Banking, UOB, Thomson Locations: SYDNEY, SINGAPORE, China, Asia Pacific, U.S, York, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Europe, Asia, Japan, IPOS, Southeast Asia, Amman, Sydney, Singapore, Bangalore

The Chinese e-commerce giant saw sales rise 6-8% over the 618 festival period that ran from late May through to Sunday evening, according to a client note from Citi analysts. The festival, named after the founding date of JD.com but embraced by all e-commerce platforms, is a key barometer of Chinese consumer spending. JD.com has said it will not release its GMV for the festival period this year, only noting that sales hit a record - a milestone which was expected. Alibaba has also stopped releasing GMV figures for the so-called Singles Day shopping festival period in November in the face of slowing sales. Goldman Sachs analysts said in a client note that JD.com sales during 618 "slightly" exceeded expectations, while Jefferies analysts said the event "surpassed expectations and set new records."

Persons: brokerages, Syntun, Alibaba, JD.com, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Casey, Sophie Yu, Edwina Gibbs, Susan Fenton Organizations: HK, Citi, Alibaba, PDD Holdings, Casey Hall, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, Shanghai, Beijing

☆ Alibaba founder Jack Ma gives first class as visiting professor at University of Tokyo
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Alibaba founder Jack Ma gave a lecture as a visiting professor to the University of Tokyo, as the high-profile Chinese entrepreneur retreats further from his business empire following Beijing’s regulatory crackdown. His return was a symbolic move and probably a “planned media event” by Beijing intended to appease private sector fears, according to analysts. In April, the University of Hong Kong announced that Ma would join its business school for the next three years. Ma became a professor at the University of Tokyo on May 1, and his period of stay is until October 31, a profile page of Ma shows. Beijing needs the private sector more than ever to shore up growth and create jobs.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Jack Ma, Ma, –, Masa Son, Ma chatted, Xi Jinping, Li Qiang Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, University of Tokyo, Alibaba Group, University of Hong Kong, Damo Academy Locations: Hong Kong, Japan, China, India, Malaysia, Shanghai, Beijing, Spain, Hangzhou

☆ Alibaba and more: Morgan Stanley names 5 global stocks with at least 50% upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Morgan Stanley expects five of its top Asia stock picks to rise by more than 50% over the next 12 months. Alibaba Alibaba Group, the Chinese technology giant that's also listed in the United States, is making significant progress in its restructuring process, according to Morgan Stanley. "The likelihood of generics being immediately released in May 2024 is low," Morgan Stanley analysts Shinichiro Muraoka and Jaeheon Lee said in a note to clients on June 12. Sea Despite the challenges from inflation and post-pandemic economic reopenings, Morgan Stanley still sees long-term potential in Sea Limited . JD.com Morgan Stanley highlighted JD.com , a leading Chinese e-commerce company, for its potential growth as Chinese consumer spending picks up.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley's, Morgan, Gary Yu, Astellas, Astellas Pharma Morgan Stanley, Shinichiro Muraoka, Jaeheon Lee, JD.com Morgan Stanley, Eddy Wang, Ping, Jenny Jiang Organizations: Asia, Alibaba, Street, Astellas Pharma, Ping An Insurance Locations: Asia, Asia Pacific, Japan, China, India, United States, U.S, Singapore

[1/5] People wait for bus near a billboard of JD.com advertisement for the "618" shopping festival, in Beijing, China June 12, 2023. Retail sales growth in May slowed from the previous month, missing forecasts. In 2022 China's online retail sales amounted to 13.8 trillion yuan ($1.93 trillion), according to Ministry of Commerce data. "Everyone's making excuses but at the end of the day, it's a super-soft retail market." Last year, JD.com posted 10% annual growth in total 618 sales, its slowest ever.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, Josh Gardner, JD.com, Trudy Dai, Jason Yu, Kantar, Yu, Iris Zhang, Gardner, Data, Casey Hall, Sophie Yu, Marius Zaharia Organizations: REUTERS, HK, of Commerce, Kungfu, Burberry, Apple, Alibaba, Jefferies, Citi, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, SHANGHAI, Tmall

Data showed U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rose in May as consumers spent on a range of goods including vehicles. All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by health care (.SPXHC), up 1.55%, followed by a 1.54% gain in communication services (.SPLRCL). The S&P 500 climbed 1.22% to end the session at 4,425.84 points. Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) by a 7.1-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 48 new highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 80 new highs and 72 new lows.

Persons: TD Cowen, Ross Mayfield, Baird, who'd, David Russell, Kroger, Shristi Achar, Sruthi Shankar, Noel Randewich, Vinay Dwivedi, Shounak Dasgupta, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Nasdaq, Dow, U.S . Federal, Treasury, Apple, Microsoft, Fed, U.S, Market Intelligence, Dow Jones, Kohl's Corp, Alibaba, People's Bank of China, Thomson Locations: China, Bengaluru, Oakland, Calif

☆ Futures falter as Fed forecasts further rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Traders see a 72% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike in July, up from around 60% a day earlier, according to the CME Fedwatch tool. "Powell expressed that the committee seemed surprised about the resilience of current inflation even if Tuesday's CPI print showed a continued slowing in the headline inflation rate," said Charles Hepworth, investment director at GAM Investments. The S&P 500 (.SPX) and Nasdaq (.IXIC) rose for a fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, while the Dow (.DJI) ended down following the Fed decision. ET, Dow e-minis were down 78 points, or 0.23%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 18.25 points, or 0.41%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 107 points, or 0.7%. Reporting by Shristi Achar A and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: TD Cowen, Powell, Charles Hepworth, Shristi Achar, Sruthi Shankar, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Dow, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Fed, Traders, GAM Investments, Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Dow e, Investors, Kohls Corp, Alibaba, People's Bank of China, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Alibaba to launch local versions of its China e-commerce site in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Michael Evans, President of Alibaba Group, said that the firm will bring its Tmall e-commerce site to Europe. Michael Evans, president of Alibaba, said the company will bring one of its China e-commerce services Tmall into Europe. In China, Tmall is an Alibaba site and app that has a big focus on selling foreign brands to Chinese consumers. Launching Tmall in Europe reflects a significant shift in strategy for Alibaba in its international e-commerce operations. However, Evans' suggestion is that Tmall in Europe would focus on selling local brands to local shoppers.

Persons: Michael Evans, PARIS —, Alibaba, Evans Organizations: Alibaba, PARIS, Viva Tech, Shipping, AliExpress, Tmall, Digital Commerce Locations: Europe, China, Paris, France, Spain

☆ Alibaba aims to expand local business in Europe, president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Silvia Aloisi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A man walks past a logo of Alibaba Group at its office building in Beijing, China August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File PhotoPARIS, June 15 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group (9988.HK) will make Europe top priority as it focuses on building local businesses and online platforms outside China, the president of the e-commerce giant said on Thursday. "We have started with a pilot project in Spain which we will expand across Europe," he said. Its e-commerce business is to be split, with one side covering Alibaba's domestic-facing e-commerce marketplaces and the other its overseas e-commerce marketplaces such as Lazada, which serves Southeast Asia, and AliExpress. Taobao and TMall are China's dominant e-commerce marketplaces in China.

Persons: Tingshu Wang, J, Michael Evans, Alibaba, Jack Ma, Ma, Jack, Evans, Silvia Aloisi, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Jason Neely Organizations: Alibaba Group, REUTERS, Alibaba, HK, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Europe, Paris, Spain, Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Tokyo, Alibaba

If you want to be bullish, you say inflation is down more than 50% since its peak. If you want to bearish, you can say inflation is still more than twice the Fed's target," Young said. The S&P 500 was up 0.69% at 4,368.75 points. Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) by a 5.0-to-one ratio. The S&P 500 posted 43 new highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 131 new highs and 39 new lows.

Persons: Stocks, Liz Young, Young, Russell, JD.com, Viterra, Shristi Achar, Sruthi Shankar, Noel Randewich, Vinay Dwivedi, Richard Chang Organizations: Oracle, Nasdaq, Dow, Federal Reserve, U.S . Labor Department, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Traders, Apple, Nvidia, Alibaba, Dow Jones, Intel, Bunge Ltd, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Bengaluru, Oakland , California

☆ SoftBank prepares new round of layoffs at Vision Fund, Reuters reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

SoftBank's Vision Fund posted a record loss in the year ended Mar. The flagship tech investment unit has been hit by the falling prices of tech stocks. SoftBank Group Corp is planning a fresh round of layoffs at its Vision Fund investment arm, two people familiar with the matter said, the latest cost-cutting move at the Japanese conglomerate. SoftBank's Vision Fund unit, which has booked heavy investment losses, had headcount of 349 at the end of March, according to a company report. It cushioned the investment loss at the Vision Fund unit by selling down its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Persons: ByteDance Organizations: Vision, Mar, SoftBank, Corp, Vision Fund, Fund, International, Alibaba, Holding Locations: U.S, China

SAN FRANCISCO, June 12 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) is planning a fresh round of layoffs at its Vision Fund investment arm, two people familiar with the matter said, the latest cost-cutting move at the Japanese conglomerate. SoftBank's Vision Fund unit, which has booked heavy investment losses, had headcount of 349 at the end of March, according to a company report. If finalized, this would follow the elimination of about 150 jobs globally at the investing arm and SoftBank Group International in September. It cushioned the investment loss at the Vision Fund unit by selling down its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK). Vision Fund 2's portfolio was worth $31 billion at end-March compared with an acquisition cost of $49.9 billion.

Persons: ByteDance, SoftBank, SoftBank's, Krystal Hu, Sam Nussey, Kenneth Li, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: FRANCISCO, SoftBank Group Corp, Vision Fund, Fund, SoftBank, International, Vision, Alibaba, Holding, HK, Intel, Thomson Locations: U.S, China, The Cambridge, England, San Francisco, Tokyo

☆ China's Baidu launches $145 million venture capital AI fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, May 31 (Reuters) - Chinese search giant Baidu Inc (9988.HK) will set up a venture capital fund of 1 billion yuan ($145 million) to back start-ups focused on content generated by artificial intelligence applications, it said on Wednesday. The company will also launch a competition for developers to build applications off its ERNIE large language model (LLM) or integrate the model into their existing products, it added. E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) was among the other Chinese companies that followed quickly. In response to the surge of LLMs, China published draft regulations in April on the use of generative AI. ($1=6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Josh Horwitz, Samuel Shen and Jason Xue; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ernie Bot, Josh Horwitz, Samuel Shen, Jason Xue, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: Baidu Inc, HK, Baidu, Alibaba, Holding, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, United States

☆ Abu Dhabi's Mubadala to buy majority stake in Fortress Investment from SoftBank
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 22 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Co will acquire a majority stake in U.S. asset manager Fortress Investment Group from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Mubadala and Fortress Investment said in a joint statement on Monday. After the completion of the deal, Fortress' management will own a 30% stake in the company, while Mubadala Capital will hold the rest, according to the statement. Fortress management will hold a class of equity that entails it to appoint a majority of seats on the board. Fortress will appoint Drew McKnight and Joshua Pack as co-CEOs and Pete Briger as chairman, the companies said.

☆ Asian stocks inch up on US debt ceiling hopes, Nikkei hits 33-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index (.AXJO) rose 0.66%, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) continued its ascent, rising to its highest since August 1990, during the country's so-called bubble era. Futures indicated European stocks were set to open higher, with Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.44%, German DAX futures up 0.41% and FTSE futures up 0.23%. China's blue-chip CSI300 Index (.CSI300) rose 0.20%, while the Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC) was up 0.13%, having reversed from earlier losses. Hawkish rhetoric from Fed speakers continued with Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard saying inflation was not cooling fast enough to allow the Fed to pause its interest-rate hike campaign. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose 0.029% and was wedged near a two-month high.

☆ Asian shares mixed as China growth worries crimp U.S. debt ceiling optimism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) eased 0.20% but was set to eke out a gain of 0.19% for the week. Data in the week underscored that China's economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter, stoking worries over the wobbly post-COVID-19 recovery. Investor attention has been firmly on the negotiations over U.S. debt ceiling and increasing hopes that a deal could be reached sent U.S. shares higher overnight . Hawkish rhetoric from Fed speakers continued with Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard saying inflation was not cooling fast enough to allow the Fed to pause its interest-rate hike campaign. U.S. crude fell 0.14% to $71.76 per barrel and Brent was at $75.78, down 0.11% on the day.

☆ Alibaba misses revenue estimate, approves cloud unit spinoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We would love nothing more than to see one of these little Alibabas...becoming another big Alibaba, as big as the group company is right now," said Alibaba Group chairman Daniel Zhang on an earnings call. Alibaba logged revenue of 208.20 billion yuan ($30.12 billion) for the three months ended in March, compared with a Refinitiv consensus estimate of 210.3 billion yuan. Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was 23.52 billion yuan for the quarter, reversing a year earlier loss of 16.24 billion yuan. Revenue for Alibaba's cloud division in the recent quarter was 18.6 billion yuan, down 2% year-on-year. The company has opened up registration to test the technology to enterprise customers of Alibaba Cloud.

☆ Alibaba fourth-quarter revenue rises 2%
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 18 (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK), said on Thursday that fourth-quarter revenue climbed 2%, missing expectations. The 208.20 billion yuan ($30.12 billion) logged for the three months ended in March compares with a Refinitiv consensus estimate of 210.3 billion yuan drawn from 26 analysts. Chinese consumer spending has gained some momentum since the country abandoned draconian zero-COVID policies late last year, but still remains relatively muted amid a wobbly economic recovery. Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was 23.52 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 16.24 billion yuan. Revenue for the full year climbed 2% to 868.69 billion yuan, marking its slowest rate of growth since the company went public in 2014.

☆ Tencent cuts cloud service prices up to 40% to fend off rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) said last month it would slash prices for some cloud products by up to 50%. Wei Yunfeng, a researcher at data firm IDC, said the price cuts were triggered in part by high sales targets despite slowing growth for the market. Alibaba's cloud revenue accounts for about 9% of its total revenue. James Mitchell, Tencent's chief strategy officer, told analysts on a call: "The impact of price cuts on Tencent as a whole is not notable." Moreover, price cuts only apply to its infrastructure-as-a-service business, which represent only a portion of Tencent's cloud services.

☆ Tencent slashes cloud service prices by up to 40% as price war intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, May 17 (Reuters) - Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) is cutting prices for cloud services by up to 40% from June amid similar moves from rivals that have plunged the sector into a price war. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) said last month it will slash prices for some cloud products by up to 50%. Charlie Chai, an analyst at 86Research, said Chinese cloud service providers had in the past made efforts to avert a price war but "at the end of the day they still went down this path". Alibaba's cloud revenue accounts for about 9% of its total revenue. Tencent does not break out separate figures for cloud revenue.

Asian markets, particularly China's, will be hoping this sparks a recovery from Wednesday's decline following yet another batch of sub-par Chinese economic indicators. The Chinese yuan fell below 7.00 per dollar for the first time in nearly six months and with GDP forecasts being slashed, analysts reckon the yuan could be poised for more weakness. Citi's Chinese economic surprises index had its biggest fall in two years and one of the steepest on record. Economists polled by Reuters expect the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.5% and net new job growth to slow to 25,000. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. accounting watchdog found unacceptable deficiencies in audits of U.S.-listed Chinese companies performed by KPMG in China and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, the government agency said on Wednesday. The deficiencies were so great that auditors failed to obtain enough evidence to substantiate companies' financial statements, PCAOB Chair Erica Williams told reporters on Wednesday. KPMG Huazhen in China said in a statement it has taken steps to address the issues the PCAOB had found. With its 2023 work, the PCAOB expects it will have inspected auditors representing 99% of the work in the region. The agency will continue to demand full access to do its work, Williams said.

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